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Source: http://dsource.in/resource/thanjavur-painting
Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
1. Introduction2. Tools and Raw Materials3. Making Process4.
Products5. Contact Details
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IntroductionGods, gold and gemstones are at the heart of this
four hundred year old art form of palagai oviyam, better known as
Thanjavur painting. The art began as visual representations of the
Gods and Goddess described in detail in the Hindu scriptures and
extended to Royal portraiture. The rise of the style coincided with
the wave of Vaishnavism in Southern India. Themes are mostly based
on the Vishnu puranas with Baby Krishna, holding a pot of butter
being the most recurring visual in these paintings. The painting
style is a historically developed amal-gamation of Nayak, Maratha
and British elements and it is is bold in style and character.
While the overall effect is striking, fine lines, gradation washes
of skin tones and kayal vizhi eyes (the much loved fish- shaped eye
roman-ticized by Tamil poets) are a testament to the devotion with
which the traditional art form has been practiced in Thanjavur.
Highly ornamented figures of god and goddess are main attraction
of Thanjavur Paintings.
Natural colors derived from various flowers, stone etc. are used
in the paintings.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
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Artisan showing a Thanjavur Painting. Gold work done on a
painting to highlight the clothes and jewelry.
House of the master Artisan. Narrow lanes of Thanjavur houses
many artists.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
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A painting in process. Workplace of a Thanjavur
painter/artist.
Artisan is explaining the process. Basic and the most important
raw materials used in making Thanjavur Painting.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
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Small brushes cum stamps used to place kundan on the jewelry and
borders of the cloth.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
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Tools and Raw MaterialsPalagai (Wooden plank): Traditionally,
wood of the pazha pazham maram (jack fruit tree) is used as it does
not invite termites nor it rots easily. Now a days plywood is
used.
Attai (Cardboard)
Gada cloth (Cotton fabric)
Kezhungu passai (Indigenous gum): Gum from a root used for
sticking cloth to the wooden base.
Chukangu powder (A root ground to powder): Used with fevicol as
to coat the fabric.
Sunnambu kallu (Calcium carbonate stone): The stone is ground
and sieved to fineness and used with chalk powder and gum from the
karuvela maram for coating on cloth.
Polishing stone and Emery sheet: For smoothening the coated
board in preparation for tracing the image.
Red stone: It is used in the past instead of sunnambu kallu for
embossing work. It was mixed with chalk powder and gum. Red stone
is believed to be longer lasting than sunnambu kallu.
Fevicol: Used with chukangu powder to create a maavu (paste) for
coating the cloth.
Karuvela maram gondhu (Gum from the babul tree)
Chalk powder: Used in the coating of cloth.
Tracing sheet with a template for the painting.
Kari (Charcoal dust): Used to create impression of tracing on
board.
Mai (Soot from vellakanni deepam): Used for preliminary
outlining with brush. Also used for detailing the gold leaf
embossing.
Kundan stones: Bought from Jaipur for the jeweled parts of the
painting. Based on orders, precious stones are used instead of
kundan.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
1. Introduction2. Tools and Raw Materials3. Making Process4.
Products5. Contact Details
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Kannaadi (Glass): Traditionally, glass was cut into required
shapes using a diamond cutter. The cut glass, set in lac on a stick
is then shaped by rubbing on a stone till it has soft curves. The
glass is then placed on a silver plate with colour smeared on it.
On heating the silver plate, the colour sticks to the glass. This
coloured glass has better luster as compared to the kundan used
today. Mirror is used for decorating borders. It was earlier made
by artisans by setting padarasam (mercury) under clear glass.
Lac: Used for fixing glass pieces to sticks for shaping.
Gold leaf: A thin film of flattened gold. Made by artisans in
the past by beating a gold bit by placing it on a thol (animal
skin). In the 1930s and 40s it was imported from China. Now, gold
leaf is procured from Jaipur. Fake gold leaf is available in
Thanjavur and is used by many painters.
Scissor : For cutting gold leaf to size.
Cloth : for pressing emboss work.
Anil vaal brush (Squirrel tail hair brush): Made by the artisan
according to required thickness.
Poster colors and opaque water colours: When used directly, the
colors are stark, creating high contrasts. They are often used with
a few drops of mooligai colours for a slightly subdued
rendering.
Mooligai colours (pigments extracted from natural sources like
leaves, root and bark): These colors are avail-able at naatu
marundhu kadaigal (country medicine stores) in the form of tablets
or powders. These colors are grinded/churned and mixed with gum and
water. The preparation of colors takes about two to four days and
has a limited shelf life. Painting with natural colors creates a
subdued tonal effect as compared to the stark effect of poster
colors.
Other materials used are: Teak wood for frame and glass placed
over painting.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
1. Introduction2. Tools and Raw Materials3. Making Process4.
Products5. Contact Details
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Palagai, wooden plank or cardboard is used for painting. Natural
bright colors are used in paintings.
Subtle colors depict calm moods. Various natural colors in their
native form, brushes and gold foil.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
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Products5. Contact Details
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Artisan cutting a gold foil in the desired shape. Scissors and
kezhungu passai, a gum is used to cut the gold foil and paste the
cloth on the board respectively.
With the decrease in the availability of natural colors artisans
have also started using poster colors.
Fevicol is mixed with chalk powder to coat the cloth.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
1. Introduction2. Tools and Raw Materials3. Making Process4.
Products5. Contact Details
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A mixture of chalk powder and Fevicol. Grinding stone along with
sand paper and chalk pow-der-with- fevicol.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
1. Introduction2. Tools and Raw Materials3. Making Process4.
Products5. Contact Details
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Making ProcessFixing of cloth: A wooden board of required size
is procured. A cardboard is placed on the board. Cotton fabric is
stretched and stuck/pasted on the board using kezhangu passai (an
indigenous gum). Once the fabric has ad-hered/attached well to the
board, the process of coating the cloth begins.
Coating the cloth board: A maavu (paste) of chukangu powder and
fevicol is prepared. Three coats of this paste are applied on the
cloth board over a span of ten days including drying time in
between coats. This coated area is then rubbed with a smoothening
stone and emery sheet to obtain a surface with mild sheen and good
texture. Coating of the cloth board helps prevent the painting from
damage caused by moisture and heat.
Tracing the image: The painter has templates of religious themes
to be used in the paintings. The template is in the form of a
tracing sheet with pinpricks on the outlines. This tracing sheet is
placed on top of the cloth board and dusted with kari (charcoal
dust). The outline is further clearly marked using mai (soot) from
a vellakennai lamp using an anil vaal (squirrel tail hair)
brush.
Emboss and coloured stonework: A paste made of chalk powder,
sunnambu kallu and karuvela maram gondhu is used to create the
relief work. Using a brush, the first layer of the paste is applied
to create a raised effect for the designated areas of the work.
Once this layer is dry, finer details are painted on using the same
paste to create raised patterning. At this stage, the coloured
glass or kundan stones are embedded. They are stuck with Fevicol or
chukangu paste. Once dried, the embossed areas are covered with
gold leaf.
Gold leaf work: Thin gold foil is placed on an embossed area and
measured for size. The foil is then cut to shape. Karuvela maram
gondhu is applied on the back and pasted on the embossed area. The
leaf is smoothened over the area using a piece of cloth. Using the
pointed back of a paintbrush, the foil is pressed down to reveal
the em-bossed details. In this manner, all the embossed areas are
covered with gold leaf. In summer, the gold leaf takes about three
hours to dry on the board. The edges of the shapes are trimmed for
excess gold.
Painting: Depending on the grade of the painting, poster colour
or poster colour + mooligai colour or mooligai colour is used.
Colours are painted and allowed to dry in several coats. Skin tones
are applied in stroke gradations to create softness. A fine
outlining is done for features. The gold leaf, in some paintings is
detailed with black soot or permanent marker for clearer
contrasts.
Framing: The painting, once complete is placed inside a teakwood
frame with clear glass on top. The local aasari (wood craftsman)
makes the frame according to the dimensions of the painting and
sends it to the painter.
Source:
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
1. Introduction2. Tools and Raw Materials3. Making Process4.
Products5. Contact Details
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Initial sketches are made on the ply board. Small holes are made
where beads are to be applied, so that the beads get fixed in the
frame.
A canvas with sketches of god and goddess ready to be
painted.
Sketching done on a white board.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
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William NID, Bengaluru
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The drawing area is first coated with single layer of chalk
powder and Fevicol mixture, in order to raise it from the base
surface.
The fine detailing and ornamentation is done using five brushes
with the mixture of chalk powder and Fevicol.
Kundan is applied to enhance the jewelry, cloth etc. A painting
with Kundan pasted on it.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
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William NID, Bengaluru
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Artisan taking measurement of the amount of gold foil required
to cover a certain area.
The gold foil is cut into desired shape.
It is pasted on the design with a help of a glue. The foil is
pressed gently with the help of a cotton cloth.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
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William NID, Bengaluru
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To bring out the embossed surface the foil is further pressed
with the pointed back of the paint brush.
A painting applied with gold leaf.
Finely embossed patterns with gold leaf and enhanced by Kundan
along with mirror in the border are the main charm of the Thanjavur
painting.
Finally painting is done using natural or poster colors.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone by Ms.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
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Shadow work done on ladies top. Elegant Kairi-Mango motif done
on sari.
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Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
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William NID, Bengaluru
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Krishna eating butter and playing. Paintings of goddess Lakshmi
and lord Ganesh.
ProductsVaishnavite themes in Thanjavur paintings developed
during the Nayak period. The most popular themes in-clude: Vennai
Thali Krishnan (Krishna with a pot of butter)Ramar Pattabishegam
(The crowning of King Rama)Saraswati and Gaja Lakshmi (Lakshmi
flanked by elephants)
Royal portraits were also painted in this style. The
traditional/puranic themes are the most sought after. Some recent
paintings by Shambaji Rajah Bhosle feature Gods and Goddesses who
were not traditionally portrayed in this style including
Chandramukeshwar, Shiva-Parvati and Bhooma Devi and the 108
Bharatanattiyam poses of Shiva. These paintings have been
visualized after a rigorous study of narratives in the Puranas.
Today, artists undertake family portrait orders and the occasional
recreation of a famous Ravi Varma painting in Thanjavur oviyam
style. Apart from paintings the artisans also make idols of god and
goddesses.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
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A replica of one of the paintings from Raja Ravi Varma. Painting
of god along with other court people.
Lady with a lotus flower. Krishna on shehnaag.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
1. Introduction2. Tools and Raw Materials3. Making Process4.
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Replication of an old painting. Krishna with his mother.
Krishna as a child. Three dimensional painting of Goddess
Saraswati.
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Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
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A three dimensional painting under process of final
coloring.
Different types of paintings framed and displayed.
Lord Jagannath painted in bright colors. Lord Shiva along with
other people.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
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Paintings of different sizes and frames displayed at the
artisan’s place.
Idols of god and goddesses.Idols of god and goddesses.
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan,Ms. Anisha Crasto, and Mr. J. Antony
William NID, Bengaluru
1. Introduction2. Tools and Raw Materials3. Making Process4.
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Contact Details This documentation was done by Ms.
Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan, Ms. Anisha Crasto and Mr. J. Antony
William at NID, Bengaluru.
You could write to the following address regarding suggestions
and clarifications:
Helpdesk Details:Co-ordinatorProject e-kalpaR & D
CampusNational Institute of Design#12 HMT Link Road, Off Tumkur
RoadBengaluru 560 022India
Phone: +91 80 2357 9054Fax: +91 80 23373086Email:
dsource.in[at]gmail.com
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Design Resource
Thanjavur Painting The Art of Painting with Gemstone byMs.
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William NID, Bengaluru
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